Wall Street: Goldman’s Marcus predicament

The latest in finance.
View in browser
INSIDER
Subscribe

10 THINGS ON WALL STREET

Hi. I'm Aaron Weinman. Goldman Sachs' consumer-banking unit Marcus has halted hiring plans — at least for back-end roles like engineering, design, and product gigs — and has no plans to use recruiters through the end of this year, a person familiar with Marcus' hiring ambitions told me.

Goldman Sachs executives are concerned that too much money is being spent on Marcus. David Solomon, the bank's chief executive, now faces the difficult decision over what is next for the consumer-banking unit.

Insider's Dakin Campbell, who has written extensively about Marcus, has the latest on Solomon's effort to bring Goldman Sachs to Main Street.


If this was forwarded to you, sign up here. Download Insider's app here.


Goldman Sachs CEO David Solomon wears a pale blue shirt and red tie while speaking on stage.

1. Goldman Sachs is thinking what was once unthinkable. The bank may pivot its ambitions for Marcus — the consumer-banking unit named after founder Marcus Goldman — in a bid to stem burgeoning costs.

A pivot, in any way, shape, or form, for Marcus is a hammer blow to Chief Executive David Solomon, who has championed the roll-out of the consumer bank.

John Waldron, Goldman Sachs' president and Solomon's longtime lieutenant, reckons the bank needs to rethink its approach to Marcus, and more importantly, how it spends the money being invested in the initiative.

A shift in the consumer business carries risk for Solomon, who has made Marcus one of the key pillars in his strategy to lead Goldman Sachs into the future.

Marcus is housed under Goldman Sachs' consumer and wealth-management arm, which is run by Stephanie Cohen and Tucker York.

Solomon tapped Cohen to craft the digital bank. But she has been on leave for several months. While Cohen has been in regular contact with Solomon, Waldron, and divisional cohead Tucker York, a number of Goldman insiders have wondered where she is at such a critical juncture for Marcus.

Read the full story here.


In other news:

Wall Street street sign

2. Private-equity firms from KKR to Thoma Bravo are already recruiting investment bankers for their 2024 associate jobs. The frenzied process has junior bankers interviewing till 2 a.m. and getting their offers before Labor Day.

3. Big Law has a mental health problem, but more lawyers are opening up. Working at a big firm can put emotional health at risk. Attorneys talked about their struggles with depression and about feeling pushed to the brink.

4. Special purpose acquisition companies, or SPACs, raised billions of dollars in the last two years. But many of these blank-check vehicles have tackled regulatory slowdowns and weakened public-market conditions in 2022. Insider looked at 10 companies, including mortgage startup Better and bitcoin miner GRIID, that have struggled to close merger agreements with SPACs.

5. A former marketing director at Angelo Gordon's Twin Brook unit agreed to drop claims of rape and battery against a former executive at the firm. The suit was filed in 2019 with claims of rape, and accused Twin Brook of negligence and breach of contract. Angelo Gordon disputed her claims.

6. Twitter said an ally of Elon Musk is trying to "flip Twitter the bird" and dodge legal requests regarding his involvement in the agreed-upon $44 billion deal. Silicon Valley investor David Sacks said Twitter was harassing him, but the social-media platform argued that Sacks could have key details on Musk's decision to back out of the agreement to buy Twitter.

7. Morgan Stanley has ordered an internal lawyer to supervise the bank's block-trading desk, the Financial Times reported. The decision to install the lawyer — who will monitor banks on its US equity syndicate desk and answer their legal questions — was made after Morgan Stanley placed Pawan Passi, its head of US equity syndicate desk, on leave last year.

8. Financial services is adopting artificial intelligence to reduce bias and make more equitable loan decisions. But the sector needs to be aware of the pitfalls of the process for it to work.

9. Wesley Chan, an early investor in Robinhood, has passed on most fintechs. But he is backing X1, a "smart" credit card. Here is the pitch deck that sold Chan on the deal.

10. All the warm and fuzzy economic news of late was just a momentary blip. Jobs and inflation data may be looking up, but the US economy is still in trouble and a recession is on the horizon.


Done deals:

  • White Oak Global Advisors said it has deployed more than $1 billion in loans across its lending platforms for the first half of 2022. The non-bank lender provides term loans and asset-backed financings to small and medium-sized enterprises.
  • Communications infrastructure company Harmoni Towers — a portfolio company of Palistar Capital — has agreed to acquire Parallel Infrastructure from Apollo Global Management. Parallel designs, builds, owns, and operates telecommunications infrastructure.

Curated by Aaron Weinman in New York. Tips? Email aweinman@insider.com or tweet @aaronw11. Edited by Hallam Bullock (tweet @hallam_bullock) in London.

Download on the app store   Get it on google play

Older messages

I work a second job to pay off $86,000 in student-loan debt. The cancellation helps, but I'll never get my 20s back.

Tuesday, August 30, 2022

Sarah, 25, never traveled or moved out of her parents' home because of her student loans. She's using the relief to help with her siblings' debt. View in browser Business Insider Business

Wall Street: A view on convertibles

Tuesday, August 30, 2022

The latest in finance. View in browser INSIDER INSIDER Subscribe 10 THINGS ON WALL STREET Hi. I'm Aaron Weinman. You may recall the loss-making smart-glass manufacturer View Inc. that my colleague

How to 'quiet quit,' from someone who did it

Tuesday, August 30, 2022

The newly popular term describes the not-so-new idea of establishing work-life... Read on Insider.com INSIDER INSIDER Subscribe INSIDER FEATURED ARTICLE ECONOMY How to 'quiet quit,' from a

Workers want almost $73,000 to take a new job, but they're actually just getting about $61,000

Monday, August 29, 2022

Over the last year, workers have hiked their price tag, and say that they need an offer of over $70000 to take a new role. View in browser Business Insider Business Insider Business Insider Subscribe

Wall Street: Working 9-5 (a.m.)

Monday, August 29, 2022

The latest in finance. View in browser INSIDER INSIDER Subscribe 10 THINGS ON WALL STREET Hi. I'm Aaron Weinman. In Dolly Parton's classic tune "9 to 5," the country and pop music

You Might Also Like

Cashless Chronicles? - Issue #461

Friday, March 29, 2024

The digital finance era unfolds, charting new paths for global economies. March 29, 2024 FinTech Weekly presents a panorama where each thread weaves into the broader narrative of digital finance's

🤝 Amazon doubled down on AI

Thursday, March 28, 2024

China's green energy goodies are too cheap for the US | Amazon doubled down on Anthropic | Finimize TOGETHER WITH Hi Reader, here's what you need to know for March 29th in 3:12 minutes. 🌞 As

🤝 Amazon doubled down on AI

Thursday, March 28, 2024

China's green energy goodies are too cheap for the US | Amazon doubled down on Anthropic | Finimize TOGETHER WITH Hi Reader, here's what you need to know for March 29th in 3:12 minutes. 🌞 As

China’s ‘lost decade’

Thursday, March 28, 2024

Bloomberg Evening Briefing View in browser Bloomberg Ray Dalio has a warning for China. The hedge fund titan says the country should cut its debt and ease monetary policy or face “a lost decade.” China

Looking to buy a home? Good news.

Thursday, March 28, 2024

Don't miss out on lower mortgage rates ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌

This woman made investing history

Thursday, March 28, 2024

And so can you. ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌

The Simple Solution Worth Billions to Walmart and Amazon

Thursday, March 28, 2024

The following is a third-party sponsored message. It should not be considered a recommendation or endorsement by HS Dent Publishing. Dear Investor, In warfighting, there's a saying: "Amateurs

Markup matters: monetary policy works through aspirations

Thursday, March 28, 2024

Tim Willems and Rick van der Ploeg Since the post-Covid rise in inflation has been accompanied by strong wage growth, interactions between wage and price-setters, each wishing to attain a certain

🇯🇵 Japan's latest low

Wednesday, March 27, 2024

Visa and Mastercard cut merchants some slack | Japan's yen hit a 30-year low against the US dollar | Finimize TOGETHER WITH Hi Reader, here's what you need to know for March 28th in 3:14

‘Out of the blue’ correction

Wednesday, March 27, 2024

Bloomberg Evening Briefing View in browser Bloomberg With a number of market watchers warning of a bubble, traders are increasingly on the lookout for signs of the cliff's edge. But if you ask